When I grow up

I want to be a ga-zillionaire and live in the French Quarter and be a barfly.

It's probably not going to happen. Even though the Phenom drops not so subtle hints that I need to get on winning 300 million in the lotto.

When the Old Folks were young, and dreamed of being grown up, their dream was to be sheep farmers in New Zealand. Really.

They even looked into how they could go to New Zealand. Back then, you couldn't emigrate directly from the US to New Zealand. So, they planned on moving, briefly, to Canada and then on to New Zealand.

I'm sure, to kids from a farming community in middle-America, this seemed to be the adventure of a life time. The true American spirit of exploration and striking out on one's own.

But, they never got to New Zealand, even for a visit. They did go to Hawaii once. But, they've never actually left the country.

Years ago, I had a friend spend several months working in New Zealand, and I got her to send the Old Woman pictures of sheep. The Old Woman loved being reminded of those flights of fancy from youth. And, despite never getting the chance to explore the world, she realized she'd had a pretty exciting life here.